How Kirstie Alley Should ‘Dance’ Off the Weight — the Healthy Way

Kirstie Alley may be trying to tango off the weight on Dancing with the Stars, but it's obvious she's doing a few things wrong. Like only eating 1,400 calories a day, not sleeping for two days and going seven hours without a meal or a snack.

Kirstie Alley may be trying to tango off the weight on Dancing with the Stars, but it's obvious she's doing a few things wrong. Like only eating 1,400 calories a day, not sleeping for two days and going seven hours without a meal or a snack.

On Monday, the show featured rehearsal footage of Kirstie falling off the stage — an accident she attributed to low blood sugar. After the fall, she danced her way to her first 10 from the judges (watch her performance below), and promised to up her calorie intake to 2,000 a day.

We asked Willow Jarosh and Stephanie Clarke, contributing editors at SELF and co-founders of C&J Nutrition, how Kirstie can safely reach her goal of getting to a size four — without making a fool of herself on camera.

“Kirstie should never go seven hours without eating for a number of reasons,” Jarosh and Clark say. “Going too long without food during exercise can cause your body’s glycogen (the energy stored in your muscles and liver) to be depleted, and once those stores are gone, your energy will plummet, you’ll feel lethargic and possibly even have trouble concentrating. Plus, blood sugar can get low at this point, which makes you feel light-headed and dizzy (never a good thing, but especially bad when you’re intensely exercising, like Kirstie is.)”

And believe it or not, not eating is worse for your metabolism than eating.

“Going that long without food can also mess with her metabolism and eating habits,” Jarosh and Clark say. “For instance, she’s more likely to have a hard time controlling her portions when she does finally eat, which can lead to overeating. After overeating, she may potentially feel guilty and then skimp on her meals the next day to make up for it, when she really needs fuel for her workout. She should be having a meal or snack at least every four hours (except for when sleeping).”

The trick, especially when you’re busy? Have a set plan for meal and snack breaks ahead of time.

And what about going two days without sleep? Jarosh and Clarke say the actress definitely needs to catch more Zzzs.

“Research shows that lack of sleep can also increase appetite, and beyond that, it’s not safe to be doing such technical work without adequate sleep of 7-9 hours. That combined with not eating is definitely a recipe for an accident.”

Kirstie also revealed that until recently, she was only consuming 1,400 calories a day in her quest to “lose weight” — until dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy advised her to step it up to 2,000 while she’s working so hard.

But are 1,400 calories ever enough for a 60-year-old woman who’s 5 feet, 8 inches tall and somewhere between a “stretchy” size 4 and size 6?

Jarosh and Clarke think Kirstie is smart to bump up to 2,000 calories per day while she’s still on the show.

“Based on her age, height and estimated current weight, she needs at least 1,500 calories just for basic body functions like walking, digestion and being awake. Add in the intensity of exercise she’s doing for the show, and she needs at least 500 more for that.”

And what about life after Dancing?

“When she’s off the show and back to a slightly lower intensity routine, she can drop the calories back to 1,500 to 1,600 for weight loss, and probably 1,800 when she wants to maintain her weight. Most people underestimate the amount of calories they’re actually taking in — 1,500 calories isn’t a lot of food!”

Jarosh and Clarke also say Kirstie should aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic activity on most days of the week once she’s off the show.

“If she’s still looking to lose a bit more weight, she’d need to bump that up to about an hour. She should include weight training 2-3 times per week to help maintain lean muscle, which will keep her metabolism at it’s peak and her bones strong.”